Page:Men of the Time, eleventh edition.djvu/244

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- CASTILLE.

227

I uianoBt in order to brin^ about the establishment of a republic, but at the general election for the Con- stitaent Cortes in Feb. 1869, the republicans succeeded in retumixig oidy a small proportion of their candidates, among whom, however, was Seilor Castelar. In the discus- sions respecting the new constitu- tion of Spain Senor Castelar advo- cated, but unsuccessfully, the principle of republican institutions. In June, 1869, he vigorously op- posed the project of a regency, and ne was also concerned in the repub- lican insurrections which occurred in October of that year. In the government chosen by the Cortes after the abdication of King Amadeo, Seilor Castelar was Min- ister of Foreign Affairs. On Aug. 24, 1873, he was elected President of the Cortes by 135 votes against 73, but he vacated that post on Sept. 6, when he was nominated President of the Executive Power. His first measure was the proroga- tion of the Cortes and the assump- tion of dictatorial power. He next took energetic, but ineffectual, measures to suppress the Carlist insurrection, and despatched the Minister of War in person to Cuba to protect Spanish interests in that island. When, however, the Cortes re-assembled on Jan. 2, 1874, it re- fused by 120 votes against 100, to pass a vote of confidence in Presi- dent Castelar, who resigned. There- upon General Pavia, as Captain- Ghsneral of Madrid, forcibly dis- solved the Cortes, and appointed a provisional government with Mar- shal Serrano at its head. Soon after the pronunciamiento in favour of Alfonso XII., Seilor Castelar quitted Madrid and proceeded to Geneva, Jan. 1875. While in that city^ being disgusted at the educa- tional decree promulgated by the Spanish Government, he resided the Chair of History in the Univer- sity of Madrid, March 6, 1875. Subsequently he returned to Spain, and succeeded, though not without

considerable difficulty^ in obtaining a seat in the Cortes, as Deputy for Madrid, at the elections of Jan. 1876. He was elected a member of the Spanish Academy in 1871, but he did not deliver his reception speech till April 25, 1880. Seftor Castelar has written, " Ernesto, novela original de costumbres," 1855 ; " Lucano, su Yida, su C^nio, su Poema," 1857 ; " Legendas Popu- lares," 1857 ; " Ideas Democrati- cas," 1858 J " La Civilizacion en los cinco primeros siglos del Cristia- nismo. Lecciones pronunciadas en el Ateneo de Madrid," 2 vols., 1858-69 ; " Cr<5nica de la Guerra de Africa," 1859 ; " La Bedencion del Esclavo," 1859 ; " Colleccion de los principales articulos politioos y literarios," 1859; "Cartas 4 un Obispo sobre la Libertad de la Iglesia," printed in "Biblioteca de Democracia," 1864; "Discurso pronundado en la noche del 13 de Noviembre de 1868, con motive de instalarse el Comity Bepublicano de Madrid," 1868; "Discursos Parla- mentarios^ en la Asamblea Const!- tuyente," 3 vols., 1871; "Eoma vieja y nueva Italia," translated into English by Mrs. Arthur Ar- nold, under the title of " Old Bome and New Italy," 1873 ; " Semblan- zas contempor&neas de los perso- najes mas celebres del mundo en las Letrasj las Ciencias y las Artes ; " "Vida de Lord Byron;" and "Historia de un Corazon," a ro- mance. •

CASTILLE, Chablbs - Hippo- LTTB, romancist and journalist, the son of a colonel of artillery, born at Montreuil-sur-Mer, Nov. 8, 1820, studied at Douai and Cambrai, and was afterwards employed in the office of Public Works. Having been dismissed for neglecting his duties, he turned his attention to literature, his first contributions to which appeared in Le Mus^e des Families. He has written a niun- ber of romances which have become popular, though, as they belong to the "horrible school," he charges q2